Old Teammates Reunite on the Lynx

The WNBA veteran playing in her 10th season this year is no stranger to different environments. Originally from Mississippi, where she grew up, went to high school and played college basketball for Mississippi State, she has played for Indiana, Connecticut, and now Minnesota in the WNBA.

Prior to her start with the Lynx, though, she had only been to Minnesota when her other teams were competing against the Lynx.

It’s also the farthest city she has lived in from her friends and family that are in Mississippi and Atlanta.

Fortunately for White, there was at least one familiar face on the Lynx roster—her former Connecticut Sun teammate Lindsay Whalen.

White’s first season with Connecticut came in 2009, Whalen’s last year there before coming to Minnesota. White says that Whalen helped her adjust quickly to the team, and that her winning attitude and drive made her an ideal teammate.

“She [Whalen] had been there for a while and I was coming in, joining the team and I had a good feeling about her,” White said about her first year in Connecticut. “She was one of the main reasons I chose to go to Connecticut—I wanted to play with a point guard like herself and, actually coming here, I think that she’s improved tremendously over the years. She’s even more fun to play with now.”

White and Whalen only played together for one season, but they started 15 of the Sun’s games together and worked closely at the guard position.

That close relationship has translated into White’s first year in Minnesota, she says. Whalen and the rest of the players have helped her pick up plays, become a part of the Lynx system and jump into an important role coming off the bench in her first year.

White says they have also welcomed her as friends.

“Off the court, everybody made me feel like family so that was the biggest key,” White said. “It wasn’t a hard adjustment here because everybody was helpful and welcoming.”

Though White and Whalen hadn’t been teammates in four years prior to this season, with two players as competitive, driven and experienced as they are, that type of on the court relationship doesn’t just disappear.

In fact, White says in their case, absence made the relationship even stronger.

“Me and Whay, we had a good connection then and it’s a better connection now,” White said. “We’re playing and actually really competing for a championship.”

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